Yes it is.

Cinema is the best place to see a film. One can revisit a film afterwards on DVD or Blu Ray (I don't do streaming) but the cinema is the primary place to see it.

In my part of the world (southwest England) I have a good mixture of multiplexes and independent cinemas that between them play a great mix of mainstream, indie, avant-garde, and rereleases, from around the world (not just mainstream Hollywood). These is where I go to escape. They are places of joy. And yes, I can avoid disruptive audiences (see here for how I have that down to a science).

Too expensive? Nope. £10.99 per month for unlimited films at my local Cineworld. Yes, the independent cinemas can be a bit pricier (about £9 per ticket on average), but the cinema is still the best place to see a film, for all the reason I list here. And not just for the big epic films like Lawrence of Arabia either. Last night I went to see Aftersun a second time (a small, low-budget, perfectly formed gem of a film). The intensively moving experience of seeing it in a darkened immersive space, where one can fully appreciate the texture and detail of the meticulously crafted shot compositions, and the emotional intimacy of the closer shots, etc, was not lost on me. TV can't hold a candle to it.

Cinema will survive. It has survived television, VHS, DVD, and all sorts of other nonsense. It will survive streaming. It remains the best way to see a film, and that is a hill I will die on.